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at a glance...
Hometown: London, England
Year Formed: 1992
Members:
Dave Bush -guitars, keyboards
Justine Frischmann -vocals, guitars
Annie Holland -bass
Paul Jones -guitars
Mew -keyboards, vocals
Justin Welch -drums
Bands In The Family:
Suede, Blur, Graham Coxon, The Fall, Pulp, PJ Harvey
Notes:
Justine Frischmann, ex-guitarist of Suede, and Justin Welch,
ex-drummer, recruited Annie Holland and Donna Matthews via an ad in MelodyMaker.
Radio 1's Steve Lamacq and John Peel took a shine to the group and before any
singles or album were released, Elastica were voted the Best New Band of 1993
by NME readers. Three Top 40 singles dropped before their debut LP appeared
in 1995 and was heralded as the best female entry in the emerging Britpop scene,
if not album of the year. Justine and boyfriend Damon Albarn of Blur became de facto King and Queen of BritPopLand. Elastica toured worldwide through 1996, on
the way losing Holland to exhaustion, while picking up Sheila Chipperfield as
her replacement and Dave Bush on keyboards. Rumors of drug use and studio
bust-ups emerged in the press. Tired of arguing with Justine ("The Führer") about new material, Matthews tried acting ("The Velvet Goldmine") before leaving the band to "get sorted." Holland returned, Chipperfield left, and the band actually began to record music again. Shortly
before an appearance at Reading '99, two new members (Paul Jones and Mew) joined
the band and Elastica released 6-Track EP.
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